I've heard this sound before. It's the sound of Microsoft revving up its engines as it prepares to launch an all out marketing blitz for a new operating system. Here are three new items that crossed the transom in the last 24 hours.

It appears as though Microsoft has launched a marketing Web site for Windows Vista called Clearification.com. Amongst other things, it consists of a 7-episode "TV series," ("Webisodes") the main character of which is a fellow named Dimetri (pictured in animated form, left). The site was registered in April 2006 through GoDaddy to a Netherlands-based registrant named "Not the Carrot" but it appears to be a Microsoft-site based on the language found in its terms of use. The keywords listed in the HTML source are "Demetri, Martin, Windows,Vista, Clearification, Microsoft, Dimitri, Demitri, Zune, Clarification, Trendspotting, Daily, Show, Dailyshow." In combination with an RSS feed for the site, the word "daily" suggests that it will be updated on a rather frequent basis (perhaps with news from the tour, read on).

The animated version of Demetri, who comes across as being a bit sedated, knew today was Friday (based on what he says when he's just hanging around) and at one point says "you'll see what these things mean once you see the story." Unfortunately, I didn't stick around long enough to figure it out. Maybe others who have time to kill will. Things were moving a little too slowly for me. But, Demetri talks about embarking on a 28-city tour called the "Hold it In" tour which will involve a tour bus that he invites you to pee on, if you want. He's probably a comedian because he says the name of the show he'll be doing is "These are Jokes." Could Demetri also be Zune's Bono?

One very interesting point (to me) is how the site is based on Adobe's Flash. So far Microsoft has no answer to Adobe's Flash. As the Internet's bandwidth improves and with Flash playing host to everything from text to animation to video, one could argue it is becoming the Web's new operating system.

Looking for another Web destination to get your fill of Vista? Then, perhaps you should give Microsoft Platform and Services Division co-president Jim Allchin's new blog a try. So far, there's only one post -- a welcome post from Allchin. Wrote Allchin:

Welcome to the new and improved Windows Vista blog. A few months back, I pushed our team to bring the blog from the blogging Dark Ages into something a little more modern. The blog back then wasn’t quite doing the job. Postings were infrequent, and the site wasn’t particularly helpful.

In May, the team really turned the corner and today we’re launching the newly updated look and feel. I hope you’ll agree it’s a big improvement. It incorporates some key parts of the Windows Vista visuals. We’ve also improved the organization of the site, so things should be easier to find.

Actually, there probably won't be too many posts from Allchin. It's the team blog and Allchin will probably be winding things down once Vista is out the door. Either way, I'm going to subscribe just to see what comes through.

This sure sounds like the official relaunch of Alohabob PC Relocator and its corporate cousin, Migrate DT, both of which were acquired by Microsoft when it purchased Apptimum, Inc. back in March.

Bott goes on to explain each piece of what is actually called the Windows Easy Transfer Companion -- making it clear that Microsoft is hoping to remove any and all friction that might deter people from upgrading from XP to Vista. As I've already written, my expectations don't match those who see a very fast ramp up.